The Gold Boom in Sudan

The loss of oil revenues from South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, together with the global decline in oil prices, plunged Sudan into a dramatic economic crisis. In the 2000s, the concomitant increase in the prices of minerals, particularly of gold, led to a renewed interest in mining on the part of the Khartoum regime. This article details the strategies deployed by the Sudanese government to turn mining activities into a lifeline, in particular by encouraging the development of industrial production and reorganizing the gold trade sector. To highlight the implications of these new economic policies on power relations between State and society, as well as relationships between the different regions of the country, my study also analyses how different economic players have responded to the new opportunities and constraints created. It is based on fieldwork conducted in Khartoum and Nile Valley State in April 2014, June 2015, April and November 2016.